History, Modern Greece

Kapodistrias sought with some success to equip Greece with the basic structures of a state following a decade of intermittent fighting. However, his dictatorial ways made him unpopular, and he was assassinated in 1831. Greece relapsed into anarchy. Kapodistrias’s experiences were hardly encouraging to would-be Greek monarchs, but in 1832 the Great Powers chose Otto of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty to be king of Greece. He was crowned Otto I the following year. Athens was little more than a village at that time, but it contained the Parthenon and other associations with the glories of ancient times and so was chosen to be the capital of the new state. Handsome neoclassical buildings were erected in the city. Because Otto was only 17 years old, a Bavarian regency, unpopular among Greeks, ruled the country until 1835. Otto’s refusal to grant a constitution, his failure to convert from Roman Catholicism to Orthodoxy, and his inability to produce an heir to the throne culminated in a military coup in 1843. Otto was allowed to remain king but with reduced powers. This was the first of a number of interventions by the military in Greece’s political history.

In 1844 military and political leaders forced Otto to accept a constitution. The constitution provided for a parliament and was remarkably liberal for its day. However, the king retained the right to appoint and dismiss government ministers and could dissolve parliament. With the help of the prime minister, Otto maintained almost complete control over the legislature. He became unpopular because of his autocratic style and because he allowed Britain and France to occupy the port at Piraeus to prevent Greece from aligning with Russia during the Crimean War (1853-1856). This prompted the army to bring about his overthrow in 1862. The powers offered the throne to Prince William of the Danish Glucksburg dynasty; he was crowned King George I in 1863. Members of this family would rule over Greece intermittently until 1974.

In 1864 a new and still more liberal constitution was drafted, this one granting all Greek men the right to vote. However, the king still wielded considerable power. Instead of appointing prime ministers from the party that garnered the most votes, George I chose them arbitrarily from minority political parties. In 1875 King George agreed that in the future he would entrust the office of prime minister to the politician enjoying the confidence of a majority of deputies in parliament. This contributed to greater political stability and the emergence of a two-party system near the end of the century.